Overcoming Great Tribulations With Firm Faith in Master and Dafa

(Minghui.org) I began to practice Falun Dafa in March 1998, and I am now 50 years old. I would like to share some experiences in cultivating my xinxing, letting go of attachments, and overcoming a tribulation of life and death during my cultivation.

Letting Go of the Attachment to Playing Card Games Online

We moved to a different city after my son started high school in 2013, and I lost the cultivation environment that I was used to. I gradually became more relaxed in cultivation and eventually became addicted to playing an online card game. The more I played, the more addicted I became. If I had even a little bit of free time, I played the game. This caused a strong tension between my husband and me, and almost led to divorce.

I began having unusual symptoms in 2017. I was fine during the day, but at night, I felt various types of discomfort. The moment I lay down, I experienced back, chest, and stomach pains. I could only sleep while sitting up and leaning against the headboard. My throat also felt uncomfortable, as if something was stuck in it.

I decided to uninstall the game, and began to cultivate more diligently. The symptoms went away not long afterward.

I took a job at a supermarket in late 2018. There, I had to stand for almost eight hours a day. When I got home, I just wanted to lie on the sofa and rest. I would then open my phone, and gradually started playing games again. As a result, my stomach pain resurfaced. At first, I used ordinary means to treat it. That is, whenever my stomach hurt, I would eat something, which temporarily relieved the pain. But later on, eating no longer helped.

When my stomach pain returned, I made a firm decision, that I would never play games again. Then, I went to the storeroom to move some goods. My colleague asked me, “Are you better now?” I responded firmly that I was fine. Miraculously, my stomach pain immediately disappeared after I made that firm decision.

Letting Go of the Attachment to Lust

In late 2019, my condition worsened again. I had stomach pain, no appetite, and vomited when I forced myself to eat. And my menstrual period lasted for half a month. I ended up resigning from my job at the supermarket.

A week after I quit my job, the COVID pandemic started, and we were all locked down at home. For a period of time, I paid great attention to cultivating myself, and my stomach pain lessened, but my menstrual cycle became increasingly prolonged. By April 2020, my period was lasting for more than 20 days. After it finally stopped for a week, it returned again, and the bleeding was heavy. I knew something was not right.

I therefore looked inward and found my long-standing attachment to lustful thoughts. I realized this must be the cause of my problem. Previously, I often browsed the headlines and watched TikTok, and I paid close attention to a top male celebrity. I saved many of his photos on my phone, and inappropriate thoughts frequently surfaced in my mind. Although I knew these thoughts were not correct, I never truly eliminated them.

Realizing this, I deleted all these photos from my phone, and I was determined to correct all my improper thoughts and behaviors. Miraculously, the very next day, my period stopped. Thank you, Master for once again helping me remove my karma.

Disintegrating the Old Forces’ Arrangements and Overcoming a Life-and-Death Tribulation

When I got up to practice the Dafa exercises on the morning of October 26, 2022, my fully-charged MP3 audio player wouldn’t turn on. So I got the other MP3 player that I sometimes used, but it also wouldn’t turn on. I charged them for two hours, but they would still not turn on.

Both MP3 players failing at the same time indicated that I had a major issue in my cultivation. I began looking inward and identified a whole list of attachments, including selfishness, personal gain, vanity, jealousy, competitiveness, arrogance, and complacency. I sent forth righteous thoughts daily to eliminate them. I also increased my Fa study time, and began to copy the Fa by hand. However, my MP3 players still wouldn’t work, and my health remained unstable.

By November 10 of that year, I started experiencing severe pain in my back, chest, and stomach. Whenever I ate, I vomited. Initially, the pain was on the left side of my abdomen, then it moved to the right side, and eventually, my entire stomach hurt. My back and chest ached as well. Sometimes, the pain was so intense that I couldn’t sleep at night. Other times, I couldn’t bear lying down, and had to pace back and forth in my room. I asked my elder sister to help send righteous thoughts for me. She constantly encouraged me to look inward, send righteous thoughts more frequently, and study the Fa more diligently. My husband was worried, and urged me to go to the hospital for a check-up.

Master said:

“True cultivators have no illnesses...” (“Explaining the Fa for Falun Dafa Assistants in Changchun,” Further Discussions on Falun Dafa)

I had always firmly believed in Master’s teachings, so I never went to the hospital for an examination. However, when the pain became unbearable, negative thoughts occasionally surfaced in my mind—would I die from this? I then thought to myself, “I’m not afraid of death, but I cannot die. I’m only in my 40s. My relatives, friends, and fellow villagers all know that I practice Falun Dafa. If I were to die at such a young age, wouldn’t that reflect badly on Dafa?”

Master enlightened me in a dream. One night, I dreamed that I was breaking through a test. Although it was extremely difficult and dangerous, I made it through in the end. However, I still didn’t know when I would truly overcome this tribulation.

By April 2023, my weight had dropped from 154 pounds to 128 pounds. Seeing that I had been stuck in this tribulation for so long, my sister invited me to stay at her home for a period of time, so she could better help me.

I went to her house on April 26. On May 1, her husband brought home a basket of cherries, and I ate some. The next day, I started having diarrhea, and was constantly running to the bathroom. Since I hadn’t eaten much for a long time, my body couldn’t take it anymore. At around 3 a.m. on May 4, 2023, I got up to do the exercises. As I was standing in front of a mirrored wardrobe to do the second exercise, I suddenly felt dizzy. My legs gave way, and I fell forward, hitting my mouth on the wardrobe and landing on my knees. My mouth was bleeding, and both knees turned dark purple. But the hit on my mouth actually made me stay awake.

As soon as I got up, I felt a rush of heat through my legs. I quickly walked into the hallway outside the room. At that moment, a pile of excrement appeared at my feet. I called for my sister to wake up and get me some pants from downstairs. She later told me that she was having a nightmare when I called her. She had just fallen asleep and was dreaming that evil forces were trying to take me away, while she was fighting to keep me.

I slowly walked to the bathroom, and held onto the sink with both hands. I felt my scalp and hands begin to go numb, and I seemed to be losing consciousness. My sister told me that my face was turning pale. At this critical moment, I thought of Master. I said, “Master Li Hongzhi, please save me. I am a disciple of Master Li Hongzhi. No evil beings, old forces, dark minions, or rotten ghosts have the right to test me for any reason.” I recited the verse for sending forth righteous thoughts, and repeatedly recited, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” My sister also recited it with me over and over. After a while, the numbness in my hands disappeared.

After I cleaned myself up and sat down to listen to Master’s lectures in Guangzhou City, my stomach felt like a battlefield, making loud gurgling noises. But I was not afraid. In the afternoon, I vomited once more, and the liquid I threw up was very dark. On the third day, I regained my appetite.

My sister studied the Fa with me every day, and we sent righteous thoughts intensively. Gradually, my stomach stopped hurting, and I was able to sleep again. One night, I had a very clear dream, where I found myself standing at the entrance of a crematorium, where I stood in a previous dream. In this dream I said, “I’m not going in there,” and I turned away. When I woke up, I understood that Master was enlightening me that the evil arrangement had been dissolved.

Master helped me overcome this tribulation, and I am infinitely grateful for Master’s compassion and life-saving grace. After going through this tribulation, my years of stomach pain was cured, and my body quickly returned to normal.

Final Remarks

Looking back at the various tribulations I experienced over the years, I realize that they were all due to my failure to take cultivation seriously and my failure to strictly follow the standards of Dafa. Fortunately, our compassionate Master has always watched over me, enlightened me, and guided me. I will cultivate more and more diligently and try to live up to Master’s compassionate salvation.